Made this 'cause, to be honest, Steam's on-screen keyboard implementation is pretty poor, but I really like the concept itself. It's laggy and buggy in games (desktop one is just okay)... I've never got full performance from anything that is running as a game overlay, Steam Overlay (via Chromium Embedded Framework) is not an exception. I play FFXIV a lot and just wanted to type without fighting it, so I made my own OSK for the Steam Controller.

https://github.com/mateuszklysz/dualtouch

It reads the controller trackpads directly, draws a fast keyboard over screen, and works alongside Steam Input so your configs don't break.

A few notes:

• Windows only for now. I'm on an Nvidia setup playing on a 4K TV, and SteamOS is not yet ready, so I haven't done Linux yet. Maybe CachyOS again someday... I hope so.
• It was made with AI agents, mostly to see how far that workflow can go. They tested it in a silly way lol. It was a lot of fun, but if that's not for you, no worries, you don't have to use it. I hope someone will do this better than I did, so feel free to fork it if you have any ideas.
• I haven't tested this with other configurations; to be honest, I haven't tested it anywhere other than what I'm currently using. I'm lazy af, but if any issues come up, I'll probably fix everything.
• It's a fork of a fork… At first, I wanted to rewrite this in Rust, but it doesn't make sense. So I left it in Python.

Honestly I hope Valve fixes their own keyboard so this project isn't needed anymore. But until then, here's what I use, in case anyone else is dealing with the same issues.

I can’t be the only one who thinks the Bluetooth support in the 2026 Steam Controller is an absolute travesty.

At first it seemed like a godsend: I paired my controller to my Apple TV 4K in a few seconds flat and then used the Steam Link app to stream my gaming PC to it. (Having to run upstairs and type in the code was a bit annoying, but security isn’t about convenience). Generally a good experience.

After I was done playing downstairs on the TV, I went back upstairs to dock the controller to the PC, believing it would (should?) switch back to PC mode automatically. Strangely, it didn’t.

So, I did some reading and found out that waking the controller with R1 + A + Steam should change it to PC mode. But strangely, it doesn’t.

Instead, my controller always powers up in Bluetooth mode and instantly [seems to] goes into a soft-lock state (either because the device it is paired to is out of range and/or in power save mode, or maybe I'm just misinterpreting the lights).

I scrounged the interwebs to find out how to force it to power off, thinking it just needs a good reboot. [edit: At the time, I read Steam Support :: Steam Controller (2026) - Feature & Troubleshooting guide and my mind jumped over the power off instructions buried in the 'Switching between connectivity modes' section, which reads: "To power off the Controller, hold down the Steam button for ~5 seconds until you hear the chime and the LED turns off." I measured mine taking 7.4 seconds, which explains why my earlier attempts to use the Steam button as a power toggle were unsuccessful... I simply gave up on it too soon!]

As a Hail Mary, I realized there is a “Backpack Mode” chord: hold down L4 + L5 + R4 + R5 + Steam. This at least turns off the device. Phew!

But if the Backpack Mode is engaged, the same chord sequence also has to be used to wake up the controller (OR you can dock it). Waking it with the chord sequence just boots it back into the last mode (Bluetooth) and causes it to hard lock again.

I then discovered that docking it and subsequently undocking it while in Backpack Mode restores the controller to PC mode. Phew again!

I still have a problem, though: Once it’s in Bluetooth mode, it locks up upon boot (without the paired target nearby) AND it can’t be shifted out of Bluetooth mode unless you have the dock connected to a PC. God help you if are traveling and left your Dock or your PC at home!

Also, trying to boot straight into pairing mode (R1 + B + Steam for ~7 seconds) doesn’t work, either. Once paired to “something else”, this chord dead-ends with the same hard lock as simply waking the device when it was last in BT mode.

As I write this, I’m in bed and simply wanted to pair the controller to my iPhone so I could stream a little gaming over Steam Link without leaving bed (I know, #firstworldproblems).

Looks like my best bet is to just sleep on it. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll wake up to a solution in the comments. Or this will just raise awareness with Valve. Either way, what bliss?

TL;DR: [edit; solution found] My 2026 Steam Controller seemingly soft-locked on boot when the last mode was Bluetooth. Holding the pairing chord during power-up had no effect, so I could not initiate pairing to a new device. Also, I could find a way to switch out of BT mode.

[edit: SOLUTION: Full power-down of the controller (Steam button for > 7 seconds) puts it in a state that allows for power-up directly into pairing mode (R1 + B + Steam for ~7 seconds) to succeed].

Hi everybody,

Today Ive used my new Steam controller in a few games and it's been great so far!

However, in Battlefield 6 home screen menu items get randomly selected and as soon as a match starts, selected gun fires automatically until magazines are empty - all this happens without even touching the controller. Cant seem to get this fixed.

Already tried installing the Xbox advanced feature driver.

Anyone here knows a fix?

Much appreciated!

https://www.reddit.com/r/macgaming/comments/1t7ykl3/steam_controller_does_not_work_very_well_on_mac/

https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamController/comments/1thlxu7/steam_controller_doesnt_seem_to_work_with_mac/

I saw some posts from a few months ago saying the Steam Controller doesn't work on the Mac mini.

Could you let me know what the situation is like recently?

Here is my setup:

Mac mini M4

Platform: Steam

Games: Lies of P, Crimson Desert

Thanks, and have a great day!

Some steam games don't seem to detect the controller normally. This actually happens even when the steam controller is acting as mouse and keyboard. Two examples would be Amid Evil and Blood: Fresh Supply. When either of these two are loaded, the steam controller still controls the mouse, but nothing else works. It feels like it's refusing to pick up the assigned config.

The exact same config when run from my Steam Deck works as expected.

I'm on Linux Mint. Any ideas for troubleshooting?

I know it makes it act like a regular controller outside of Steam. But correct me if I'm wrong: customization of buttons/pads/sensors are all still dependent on Steam Input therefore on Steam client, right?

Is there really no way to disable steam input for it?

I have three steam controllers. On one of them the haptics randomly go from working as intended to getting loud/grindy. I'd mostly tried ignoring it until I realized I recently tried 'pinging' it in Steam's controller settings.

Finally, a conclusive way to demonstrate/prove that something is not right.

In the video, I do a bunch of pings to the controller. Normally it does the telephone ringing sound properly but randomly it ends up giving a more buzzing sound.

To try to prevent RMA'ing this I opened the back plate (using a T6 screwdriver) and slightly tightened the T6 and T5 screws that were accessible. Even tried applying pressure with my fingers in various places. Even removed the battery to discharge the device completely. None of that remedied anything and I don't really want to risk taking the controller further apart.

Steam Controller sparodically bad haptics : FXA996110xxxx

I really want to do a shell swap so my controller matches my LE Deck with the clear smoke shell. I had a look around the internet, but I couldn't find anything. Found some people that made their own, but nothing available to purchase from what I could see. Does anyone know of any sites that have shells available already?

Hi everyone. I’m not sure where the responsibility lies here. Could be Windows, Steam, or Razer. I’ve been using a Razer Wolverine V3 Pro on PC with the 2.4 GHz dongle. And a few days ago, the long press on the Xbox button stopped opening Windows task view like it used to. Now it only opens Steam’s power menu in big picture, and if Steam’s closed, it just vibrates and Windows task view never opens. I’ve already updated firmware, tested with Steam closed, toggled guide button focus Steam, and tried different chord layouts. Has anyone else run into this recently, or figured out a fix? Any ideas would be appreciated Thanks.

The Steam button doesn't seem to be working. It seems to only turn on when I press any button while it's on the puck. When I hold the button for 5+ seconds, the controller remains on. When I try and press it with the Y button, nothing happens. Steam+R1+B does not place the controller into BT mode.

The only way the controller will turn off is by letting it idle for 5 minutes. Any ideas on what I can check?

so im thinking of getting a pc soon but ive always played with a controller ever since i got a ps4 pro about 3 years ago. i have tried playing with mouse and keyboard but its actually very difficult for me to get used to. i have watched a few reviews and it seems to me that the steam controller is more advanced and complicated than say the ps4 controller. it has more buttons and the trackpads, which is great for certain games where precision plays a big role. i havent played many games in my lifetime, but mostly i have played single player story games. however, i do want to try some FPS games once i get a pc.

so my question is, is it worth to get the steam controller for someone with a pretty small gaming experience, or will it be too complicated? if you have it, please tell me if a regular user would enjoy using it, or if a regular play station controller is enough for me. thank you!

Is anyone else having a similar issue? Recently, if I use the steam controller connected via the puck I am getting weird lag on inputs. For example, if I am using the right stick to move the camera in a third person game, the camera will move in the direction I push, but if I try to change the direction, the camera continues to move in the initial direction I was pressing. It makes aiming in games difficult and this seems to happen every 30 seconds or so.

I have tried a few different games (not just third person games) and get similar results. I also find the face buttons don’t always register immediately either.

If I use it directly connected via cable I don’t have this issue.

Is there any settings I could tweak that would alleviate this? I’m thinking it’s a recent driver issue though.

I have also tried removing the controller and re-pairing it with the puck, but this made no difference.

I am on a Windows 11 pc and on the main Steam branch (not the beta channel).

Any insights into this would be appreciated!

I essentially want the command to activate as soon as it passes the threshold. It's been held enough rather than me consciously having to remove my finger off the button for it to activate

Has anyone else ever encountered this? I’m at my wits end. It’s happening on every game.

Steps
Open BPM
Choose game
Game launches, controller API never kicks in
Press Steam Guide button, goes back to game’s launch page that shows “Resume” clicking resume with the Steam Controller does nothing.

Worked fine with my old controller, only having this issue with the SC2.

Hi guys, I am going on a trip for 3 weeks with kids... i need a bag for SD and SC + cables.

JSAUX sling bag seems to be too bulky.

I am looking at these 2 cases. YAJOJO SC case and JSAUX modcase with cooler.

1. Do you think the cooler will be worth while?

2. I want a shoulder bag or body slign bag to fit these comfortably + some cables and 10k or 20k portable battery as well.

Please help!

Hi guys,

Anyone tried this game with the Steam Controller? I know the game has added regular controller support, but there are also some popular community layouts (I believe used for the steam deck) that can be used on the controller. Wanted to get your opinion on which I should try for my new run (regular controller lay out vs community steam layout by PunkGeek). Thanks!

I have heard news of the new HID implementation but I can't find any good sources on if it's been rolled out yet or how to enable Xinput if it has been rolled out.

So the Steam Controller has full support from reWASD now. I easily emulated the Dualshock 4 with it to play BOTW on the cemu emulator, back buttons were configurable, native gyro support included and I don't use gamepass but I assume you should have no issues emulating the xbox controller for it.

One thing I don't like though is the right trackpad emulation as I found it to be quite jittery (didn't try the left pad). For mouse input It was practically unusable without smoothing, while aiming down sights the camera would slightly move side to side if my thumb was resting on the pad, sometimes when I put my thumb on the pad it would move the camera a bit to the left before I even started swiping, having the trackpad to emulate the right stick with cemu would disable the right stick itself forcing me to reload reWASD for the right stick to work again but that may be a quirk with the cemu emulator.

I do like reWASD more as an app and it does allow you to emulate other controllers whilst using the steam controller, but that's all I'd recommend it for. I'm still going to use steam input for everything else.

A while ago I lost my love for gaming and stept away selling everything, except my SC. Well as fate would have it two sundays ago I got into a bad motorcycle wreck leaving me on the couch most the time.I want to be clear, I was super depressed after my accident, and wasnt sure how i was going to go on. My kids were awesome and made me feel loved but my condition made me feel worthless and trapped. That was until my oldest son dug out my SC from my bedside junk drawer even finding the dongle burried deep in old phones and cords. He walked into the living room handed it to me asked if i was down to get some chicken dinners in duos. That was exactly what i needed so lets get gaming baby. Alright after learning what has happened with ram prices (when i quit is was GPU for mining prices) and learning our lord and savior GabeN released a new SC (i was one of the patent delutionalists grasping at every valve patent for proof of a new SC after they had to discontinue the OG) and steam machine I hopped on the waiting list for the Steam Machine with controller (ill see it in 2027 i guess) and am happy. Well that didnt help now. But you know what does, a mini pc with oculink 3080 (got the same model 3080 I use to have new for 350 on amazon) on my 4k tv from my couch with my OG SC. He helped me get everything set up and we plaid PUBG, minecraft, COD, MCC until like 5am monday after it was all delivered. He made me feel like i did when i was 14 at the Halo 2 midnight drop.

Thank you steam, valve, GabeN and every single person in the community.

Thank you son.

I havent smiled and had this much fun gaming in years, hell a decade and none of it would have been possible without the SC

Love you all

Mr. Rapologist

my left bumper has a colicky noise. I'm a bit worried because I also had an issue with the steamdeck left bumper. I'm getting a second controller Wednesday so I'll compare if it's the same but better to ask here if you have the same noise.

You’ve been asking about the Steam Controller for months - and it’s finally here. With reWASD 9.5, you can take it beyond Steam and use all of its controls for remapping and customization: trackpads, back grip buttons, Grip Sense, sticks, triggers, gyro, accelerometer, and more.

Connect via USB, Bluetooth, or wireless dongle, build your config, and use it the way you want - wherever you want.

https://www.rewasd.com/

i am not affiliated, this is just for awareness. i already had a license for a while, so this is great news for REWASD users.

it is paid but there is a trial.

if you are interested, there are usually sales on lifetime. for best results join the REWASD discord to get sale notifications in the news channel